Seen here at a previous show hosted by William & Mary, Lauren Campbell (left) and Jessica
Van Brockin (right) of Mary Washington University placed first and second, respectively in individual open flat
at Zone 4 Zones on April 13th.

VI BACK AT NATIONALS FOR A NINTH STRAIGHT SEASON; MARY WASHINGTON BACK FOR
THE FIRST TIME SINCE '94

Lynchburg, VA - They have a Jennifer, a Jessica, a Jamie and a Julianne.
And each of these young women with a "J" at the beginning of their first
name won either a team class or an individual class or both at Zone 4 Zones
on April 13th. And because this team scored more points than anyone else
at Zones this particular program is headed back to IHSA Nationals with a
full hunter seat team for the ninth season in a row, the longest currently
active streak for an IHSA English team.

They are the Virginia Intermont Cobras, who entangled the competition
in Lynchburg, Virginia by way of cleaner jumps, better distances and
flowing canters. Though it took five team classes to get ahead for good,
Zone 4 Zones, like three of the last four IHSA Nationals, turned into a
"Cobrafest." Senior Jessica May was the first to win a blue ribbon, best
in a field of three who competed in team intermediate over fences. One
team class later a non-J-person won for VI. Amanda Shamer won team novice
fences, giving the Cobras a 19-16 lead on Hollins at the time.

May won individual intermediate on the flat to give VI their first blue
ribbon of the day outside the team sections. Senior Julianne Wilson
followed up May's flat performance with wins in both team intermediate
flat and individual novice flat. Junior Jennifer Kelly then copied Wilson,
winning team novice flat and following it up with a win in individual
walk-trot-canter. Jamie King won VI's fourth individual blue ribbon of the
day with a first in individual walk-trot while Michelle Wynn became only
the second VI rider with one of the other 25 letters at the front of her
first name to win by way of a first in the afternoon's final class, team
walk-trot. In the end the Cobras prevailed easily, winning 49-41. The
surprise to some was that the University of Mary Washington finished
second.

Down 16-13 to Hollins and without a blue ribbon of any kind over fences,
Mary Washington improved mightily once the jumps were removed. The first
flat class of the day was individual open flat, and each of the top two
placings were awarded to UMW riders. Senior Lauren Campbell came in first
while 2007 Zone 4, Region 1 Cacchione rider Jessica Van Brocklin was
reserve. A junior from Alexandria, Virginia, Van Brocklin followed up the
second with a first in team open flat. Following seconds for Tiffany
Batterton in team intermediate flat and Hannah Woll in team novice flat,
the Eagles received one more blue ribbon for the day as Shannon Brown won
team walk-trot-canter, essentially clinching second place for Mary
Washington. Though they were unsuccessful at surviving Zone 4 Zones four
times between 2000 and 2004 the Eagles will in fact send a full team to
IHSA Nationals for the first time since 1994. This will be Mary
Washington's seventh appearance at Nationals with a full team, the other
occasions being 1987-90 and in both '93 and '94.

Hollins may have come up short in the team category (with 38 points)
but the Region 2 school with no nickname will have three individuals
entered in Burbank come May. Senior Mandy Lynch, who won individual
novice flat at 2006 IHSA Nationals in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, won
individual intermediate over fences at today's show. Sophomore Abby
Gonzales won individual novice fences while senior Stephanie Ostericher
was second to King in individual walk-trot. Though she did not advance
in one of the individual classes, sophomore Katie Furches, who will
represent Region 2 in the Cacchione Cup competition this season, was the
only Hollins rider to win a team class, giving them a brief 7-5 lead over
VI with a first in team open fences early in the day.

Regions 2 and 3 tied for most individuals advancing to Nationals, with
six each. Bridgewater College will have two riders in California, as
freshman Lindsay Clark won the very first class of the day, the individual
open fences, while Cary Smith was second to Kelly in individual
walk-trot-canter. Kirkland Brown continued her hot streak, as the
University of Virginia senior was second to Clark in open fences. While
Clark, Smith and Brown joined the Hollins trio out of Region 2 Brett
Flower and Tracey Gold joined the VI quartet out of Region 3. Flower is
the lone Virginia Tech undergraduate rider at 2008 Nationals, though
Hokies Head Coach Teresa McDonald is probably happy to know that alumni
rider and Pace University Head Coach Lisa Tomaselli survived Zone 2 Zones
in alumni fences (Virginia Tech graduate Beth Blackwell, who is now Beth
Boteler, could be congratulated by McDonald face-to-face as it is she who
coaches Mary Washington). Flower was second to Lynch in intermediate
fences while Gold was second to Gonzales in novice fences. We are still
checking the record books to try and figure out the last time a Duke rider
competed at an IHSA Nationals show.

Region 1 qualified four individuals. In addition to Campbell and Van
Brocklin University of Maryland sophomore Veronica Bruce was second to May
in intermediate flat while Goucher senior Sarah Pandolfini was second to
Wilson in novice flat. Pandolfini will not be the only Gopher entered at
Nationals, as teammate Brittany Martin is the Region 1 Cacchione entry
(Region 3 Cacchione entry Brittany Denton of VI was second in team open
fences, third in team open flat and fourth in individual open fences, but
on any given day the junior from Atlanta, Georgia can beat anyone).
Because Region 1 is the only region within Zone 4 with alumni there was no
need for those divisions to be held at today's show. Without even having
to show up 2007 Hood College graduate Jennifer Mehalko and Virginia Tech
graduate Alicia Salo (you have two of them going head-to-head in the over
fences, T! - Editor) were already assured of rides at Nationals in both
alumni flat and fences, as they were the only riders in the Zone with 28
or more points in each alumni division.

--Steve Maxwell

Class-By-Class Results from Zone 4 Zones, held April 13th, 2008 in
Lynchburg, Virginia, with the top two riders in each individual class
advancing to IHSA Nationals May 8th through 11th in Burbank, California:

Final Hunter Seat Team Totals, with the top two teams advancing to IHSA
Nationals May 8th through 11th in Burbank, California: Virginia Intermont
College 49 (Champion), University of Mary Washington 41 (Reserve) and Hollins
University 38.

(Special thanks to Susan Wilson for her help in
gathering these results - Editor)